diff --git a/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.cc b/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.cc
index 424ad78ab3..b313f74e7e 100644
--- a/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "selfdrive/hardware/hw.h"
 
 #ifdef QCOM
+#include "CL/cl_ext_qcom.h"
 #include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_qcom.h"
 #elif QCOM2
 #include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_qcom2.h"
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@
 #include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_replay.h"
 #endif
 
+ExitHandler do_exit;
+
 class Debayer {
 public:
   Debayer(cl_device_id device_id, cl_context context, const CameraBuf *b, const CameraState *s) {
@@ -339,8 +342,6 @@ float set_exposure_target(const CameraBuf *b, int x_start, int x_end, int x_skip
   return lum_med / 256.0;
 }
 
-extern ExitHandler do_exit;
-
 void *processing_thread(MultiCameraState *cameras, CameraState *cs, process_thread_cb callback) {
   const char *thread_name = nullptr;
   if (cs == &cameras->road_cam) {
@@ -422,3 +423,27 @@ void common_process_driver_camera(MultiCameraState *s, CameraState *c, int cnt)
   }
   s->pm->send("driverCameraState", msg);
 }
+
+
+void camerad_thread() {
+  cl_device_id device_id = cl_get_device_id(CL_DEVICE_TYPE_DEFAULT);
+   // TODO: do this for QCOM2 too
+#if defined(QCOM)
+  const cl_context_properties props[] = {CL_CONTEXT_PRIORITY_HINT_QCOM, CL_PRIORITY_HINT_HIGH_QCOM, 0};
+  cl_context context = CL_CHECK_ERR(clCreateContext(props, 1, &device_id, NULL, NULL, &err));
+#else
+  cl_context context = CL_CHECK_ERR(clCreateContext(NULL, 1, &device_id, NULL, NULL, &err));
+#endif
+
+  MultiCameraState cameras = {};
+  VisionIpcServer vipc_server("camerad", device_id, context);
+
+  cameras_init(&vipc_server, &cameras, device_id, context);
+  cameras_open(&cameras);
+
+  vipc_server.start_listener();
+
+  cameras_run(&cameras);
+
+  CL_CHECK(clReleaseContext(context));
+}
diff --git a/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.h b/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.h
index 75bd79bfdf..f9269ebfe3 100644
--- a/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.h
+++ b/selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.h
@@ -129,3 +129,4 @@ void cameras_open(MultiCameraState *s);
 void cameras_run(MultiCameraState *s);
 void cameras_close(MultiCameraState *s);
 void camera_autoexposure(CameraState *s, float grey_frac);
+void camerad_thread();
diff --git a/selfdrive/camerad/main.cc b/selfdrive/camerad/main.cc
index cf639264c0..668410d6f7 100644
--- a/selfdrive/camerad/main.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/camerad/main.cc
@@ -1,48 +1,11 @@
-#include <poll.h>
-#include <sys/socket.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
+#include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.h"
 
 #include <cassert>
-#include <cstdio>
-#include <thread>
 
-#include "libyuv.h"
-
-#include "cereal/visionipc/visionipc_server.h"
-#include "selfdrive/common/clutil.h"
 #include "selfdrive/common/params.h"
-#include "selfdrive/common/swaglog.h"
 #include "selfdrive/common/util.h"
 #include "selfdrive/hardware/hw.h"
 
-#ifdef QCOM
-#include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_qcom.h"
-#elif QCOM2
-#include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_qcom2.h"
-#elif WEBCAM
-#include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_webcam.h"
-#else
-#include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_replay.h"
-#endif
-
-ExitHandler do_exit;
-
-void party(cl_device_id device_id, cl_context context) {
-  MultiCameraState cameras = {};
-  VisionIpcServer vipc_server("camerad", device_id, context);
-
-  cameras_init(&vipc_server, &cameras, device_id, context);
-  cameras_open(&cameras);
-
-  vipc_server.start_listener();
-
-  cameras_run(&cameras);
-}
-
-#ifdef QCOM
-#include "CL/cl_ext_qcom.h"
-#endif
-
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   if (!Hardware::PC()) {
     int ret;
@@ -52,18 +15,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     assert(ret == 0 || Params().getBool("IsOffroad")); // failure ok while offroad due to offlining cores
   }
 
-  cl_device_id device_id = cl_get_device_id(CL_DEVICE_TYPE_DEFAULT);
-
-   // TODO: do this for QCOM2 too
-#if defined(QCOM)
-  const cl_context_properties props[] = {CL_CONTEXT_PRIORITY_HINT_QCOM, CL_PRIORITY_HINT_HIGH_QCOM, 0};
-  cl_context context = CL_CHECK_ERR(clCreateContext(props, 1, &device_id, NULL, NULL, &err));
-#else
-  cl_context context = CL_CHECK_ERR(clCreateContext(NULL, 1, &device_id, NULL, NULL, &err));
-#endif
-
-  party(device_id, context);
-
-  CL_CHECK(clReleaseContext(context));
+  camerad_thread();
   return 0;
 }
diff --git a/selfdrive/camerad/test/ae_gray_test.cc b/selfdrive/camerad/test/ae_gray_test.cc
index 0f14a23794..358d93d759 100644
--- a/selfdrive/camerad/test/ae_gray_test.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/camerad/test/ae_gray_test.cc
@@ -11,9 +11,10 @@
 #include "selfdrive/camerad/cameras/camera_common.h"
 
 // needed by camera_common.cc
-ExitHandler do_exit;
-
 void camera_autoexposure(CameraState *s, float grey_frac) {}
+void cameras_init(VisionIpcServer *v, MultiCameraState *s, cl_device_id device_id, cl_context ctx) {}
+void cameras_open(MultiCameraState *s) {}
+void cameras_run(MultiCameraState *s) {}
 
 int main() {
   // set up fake camerabuf